Hat-curling machine.



No. 695,393. Patented Mar.. II, |902.

H. HEIM. HAT cuHLl'HG MAcH'lHE.A

(Application mea Aug. s, 1901.) (No ModeL).

ma NoRms PETERS cov. mordumo.. wAsuINnfoN. n. c.

No. 695,393. Patented Mar. 1|, |9021 l L..R. HE|M. 'Y

HAT CUBLING MACHINE.

(Application med Aug. 2e, 1901.) (No Modul.)

2 Sheets-Shet 2.

NTTED STATES PATENT OEEICE. l*

LEWIS Ryl-IEIM, OF DANBURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO FERNANDO C.

OLMSTEAD, OF DANBURY, CONNECTICUT. l

"HAT-CURLING MACHLNE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters PatentvNo. 695,393, dated Marchl1.1, 1902.

Application ined August 26,1901. Samia. 73,290.v (No motel T0 all whom,it may con/cern,.-

Be it known that I, LEWIS R. HEIM, a citizen of the United States,residing at Danbury, in the county of Fairfield and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvement-s inHat-Curling Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull,

clear, and exact description of .the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and `use thesam e.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements inhatcurling machines, and has for its objects to properly deliver thehat-brim to the curling instrurnentalities, while at the same time theunder side of the brim shall not be marred'in any way, to effeet theproper curl in all instances withthe fewest possible adjustments of thecurling devices, to obviate the necessity of swinging the initialcurlingdevices outside the normal horizontal plane in which they operate, toprevent the curling devices from marrin g theV crown of the hat whensaid devices are lseparatedto release the curled brim, to relieve theconvex curling wheel or roll of any function other than the actualcurling operation, and nally to provide a machine which shall beexceedingly simple'and positive in its operation.

With these endsin view myinvention consists in certain details ofconstruction and combination of parts, such as will be hereinafter fullyset forth and then specifically be designated by the claims. Y

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this application,Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved curling-machine; Fig. 2, afront elevation; Fig. 3, a plan view; Fig. 4, a section at the line00.00 of Fig. 3; and Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are respectively a plan, a frontelevation, anda side elevation, of the. curling-shackle.

'Similarknumbers of reference denote like parts in the several gures ofthe drawings.

Heretofore hat-curlin g machines have been used which employed'a smallwheel or roll having aconvex surface in connection with a large wheelhavingl avconcavejperiphery, these two rolls or wheels constituting thecurling devices between which the hat-brim was initially delivered. Alsosuch machines employed devices located beyond the initial curlers, whichdevices perfected and finally set the curl substantially in the mannershown inthe drawings of the present. application; but in these priormachines the large roll or 4wheel having the concave periphery hasafforded no support or guide whatsoever 'for the hat-brim at the underside, since the `,smallest diameter of this wheel is at thebottom-that'is to say, its periphery i-n crosssection is only aboutone-quarter of a circle.

Also ,inv the prior machinesof this sort no r provision has been made toshield the brim of the hat, so that it would not strike against the topvedge of the large curling wheel orv disk before such brim was lengagedby the curling instrumentalities, and consequently lthe u nder side ofthe brim was frequently marred. Furthermore,iu these prior machines thespindle which carried the smaller or con- Vex curling-button' was soarranged as to be withdrawn from the'large wheel or disk inl order thatafter curling the hat might be rev moved, but unless great care wasexercised on the part of the operator the crown of the hat would bescraped against this shaft,A because the latter was thus brought veryclose to said crown.

My invention aims to obviate the abovenoted'disadvantages andwillbe bestunderstood from the following description.

1 is the bed of the machine, from which l0, near the. lower end, and atthev extremer lower end of said shaft is secured'the curling-button 14,which has a convex peripher-y.f

l5 is a bracket, one endof which'is piv` oted loosely around a verticalspindle 16, secured to the bed 1, the upper part of ,said spindle beingthreaded and provided with a nut 17, while a coil-spring 1S is confinedbetweensaid nut and bracket, so that it will be roo4 clear that saidbracket may be moved upwardly against the resiliency of the spring.Within the other or free end of this bracket is secured a verticalspindle 19. Loosely arranged around this spindle are the largecurling-wheels 2O 21, the former of which is provided with a hub 22,which rests upon the bracket l5 and is loose around the spindle 19,while the wheel 21 has a hub 23, which is tight on the hub 22, so thatsaid wheels will be capable of revolution in harmony. The wheel 21 ishollowed out, as shown at 2l, and

both wheels are perforated, as shown at 25 26,

a semicircle when the wheels are assembled for operation, as shown inthe drawings. Rigidly secured to the hub 22 on the wheel 2O is aspur-gear 29, which meshes with the spurgear 13, but of considerablylarger diameter than the latter.

The convex surface of the button 14 corresponds to the concaveperipheral surface 27 of the upper Wheel 20, and the normal position ofsaid button with respect to said wheel is such that the peripheries ofsaid button and wheel are separated by a predetermined space sufficientto admit the thinnest hatbrim, and when a thicker hat-brim is passedbetween said button and wheel the latter will slightly raise upwardlyagainst the resiliency of the spring 18, so as to readily admit suchbrim and exert a proper pressure thereon.

From the foregoing description it will be readily understood that if ahat-brim be passed between said button and the wheel 20 it will becurled around the convex surface of said button and there will be nodrag on the hat-brim, owing to the fact that said button and wheel arerevolving at proper speeds, which are of course determined by therelative sizes of the gears 13 and 29.

30 is a table which is secured in any suitable manner (not shown) to thebed 1 and which is substantially in the same horizontal plane with thebottom of the lower curlingwheel 21, and in the operation of curling thehat-brims the brims of the hats are placed upon this table and movedforward until they` are engaged between the wheel 2O and button 14.

31 is a ledge which extends laterally from the upper part of the bracket15, and 32 is a plate which is rigid with the male curlingshackle 33,which plate is secured upon this ledge.

311is the female member of the curlingshackle, which is secured by meansof screws 35 to the male member ot the shackle, so as shackle a distanceequal to the thickness of a hat-brim.

37 is the mouth of the male shackle, which is flaring and opensdownwardly and has no door or bottom portion whatever. The normalposition ofthe curling-shackle, composed of its male and female members,is such that the flaring mouth 37 will be a continuation of the concavesurface of the peripheries of the upper wheel 20, the outer edge of theflaring mouth 37 being very thin and its curvature corresponding to theconcavity of thc periphery of this upper wheel, so that a hatbriminitially curled between the button and the wheel 2O will readily bedelivered within the flaring mouth 37 of the curling-shackle.

The table 30 is flush with the lower edge of this flaring mouth 37, sothat it will be clear that the hat-brim will meet with no 0bstructionsin its delivery from the button 1t and wheel 2O to the curling-shackle,and in this connection I would state that it is of the greatestimportance that the mouth 37 should wheel 2O and is used as the meansfor con-` ducting any suitable gas or heating agent.

The lower wheel 21 is a very important feature of my invention in thatit serves as a guide to assist in the proper delivery of the hat-brimfrom the table between the button 14 and Wheel 20, and the fact thatthis lower wheel 21 is not stationary, but revolves in harmony with theupper Wheel 20, is also a great advantage, in that there can be no dragon the hat, but it is important that theylower part of the hat-brimshall not become glazed by any heated surface, and therefore I haveprovided a fender 39, which is secured on top of the ledge 31 and whichextends `close to the horizontal point of junction of the `wheels 2O 21,the inner mouth of the gas-pipe 3810eing immediately above this fender,so that as the Wheels 2O 21 revolve the heat will be thrown against theupper wheel 20, but will be shielded from the lower wheel 2 1 by meansof the fender 39.

The lower wheel 21 is hollow, as seen at 24, and perfor-ations 25 26 aremade in the upper and lower wheels in order that there may be a minimummetal body in the lower wheel for heat-conducting purposes and also forthe purpose of creating an air-blast which may attack the greaterinterior area of the lower wheel, and thereby tend to keep the lattercool.

In order that the brims of the hats may not strike against the upperedge of the wheel 20, so as to scratch or mar said brims, Ihave provideda shield 10, which is secured to the table 30 and which extendsimmediately in front of the wheel 2O in close proximity to the IOO IIO

button 14, so that the hat-brims can never be touched on the under sideby the revolving upper edge of said wheel 20.

41 is a coil-spring whose ends are secured,

respectively, to the free end of the bracket and to the table 3Q, thefunction ofthis coil-spring being to keep the` wheels 2l normally inproper position with respect to the button 14.

42 is a bell-crank lever pivoted at its angle to a lug 43 rising fromthe bed 1, the upper leg of this bell-crank extending vertically athwartthe outer surface of the bracket 15, while a suitable treadlel (notshown) is connected t-o the extremity of the lower or horizontal leg ofthis bell-crank by means of an ordinary wire, chain, or cord-44.

After a hat has been completely curled the depression of the treadlewill cause'the upper or vertical leg of the bell-crank to strike againstthe bracket 15, and thereby swing the saine rearward, thus carrying thewheels of the crown bymeans of said shaft or button.-

The provision of the curling-shackleso that the male member is providedwith an integral iiaring mouthpiece is an advantage in:

that it does away with two adjustments,

which would necessarily have to be made inv case the mouthpiece weremade separate from the shackle, and, as I said before, the utmost caremust be taken in order that there should y not beth-e slightestobstruction to the under side of the hat-brim during its delivery to thecurling devices.

After the hat has been delivered to the curling-shackle it will passthrough the same, and there will be ample room left for the brim of thehat beneath the shackle, since, as will be clear by reference toFigs; 1,2, and 7, the lowermost part of the `male member of the shackle extendsbelow the bottom of the female member, so that the outerperiphery of thecurled brim may strike against and be retained by the male member and atthe same time-the brim itself Vmay lie flat on the table 30 beneath thefemale member.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is i l. In a' hat-curling machine, thecombination of a revoluble button, two revoluble disks having concaveperipheries, means for revolving saidA disks and button,'means formoving said disks toward and away from said button, and means forpreventing heating of heated, substantially as described.

y 2. In a hat-curlingpmachine, the combina-` tion of the two disksjournaled in a movable sy Eoneof saiddisks while theother is beingresilient bracket and having concave per-ipheries which arelcomplementary parts of'- a semicirole, the revoluble button havingaconvex periphery and stationary except as Ato movements about its-axis,means for heating.

the upper disk, means for deflecting the heat from the'lowerdislgmeansfor imparting revolution to said button and disks,Y thecurlingshackle carried by Ysaid'bracket and arranged in proximity tosaid button and disks, and

means for moving said disks toward and-away from said button,substantially as set forth.

3. In a hat-curling machine, the combinal tion of the two separate diskscapable of revolution upon a common axle and having concave peripherieswhich are complementary partsof-a semicircle, Vmeans ,-for heating oneof said disks, means for deflecting the heat-` ing agent from the otherof said disks, the revoluble button having a convex periphery in closeproximity to the heated disk, saidbutton being stationary except as tomovement around its axis, the curling-shackle having ar flaringdownwardly-opening mouth in proximity to said vbutton and heated disk,means for revolvingv said button and disks, andmeans for movingsaidfdisks and curlingshackle-toward and away from saidvbutt'on,

substantially as set forth. v

4. Ina` curling-machine, the combination IOO of the movablebracket,thedivided disks hav` l ingconcave peripheries which varecomplementary parts of a semicircle andwhichare carried bysaid bracket,means-forfheating one of said disks, means for deectingthe heating'agentfrom ,the other of saidA disks, l the revoluble button havin gta convexperiph- 1 ery in close proximity to the heated-disk and stationaryexcept as to movementaboutitsaxis, a spring attached to said bracket onthe fra-me of 'the machine whereby said disks are normally kept inproximityto said button,

means-as Va lever operated byvai treadlef-y whereby said disks are movedaway from said.V button, the curling-shackle carried by saidV bracketand having a Haring downwardly- IIO opening mouth in close proximitytosaid but l end of said bracket and having concave'peripheries whichare complementary parts of a semi-` circle, the revoluble button inclose proximity to one of saiddisks and having a convex periphery andstationary except as ,to-move-` ments about .its axis, thecurling-shackle car.- ried by said bracket and having` a flaring mouthopening downwardly andin close proximity to said disks and button, meansfor IZOl heating one of said disks, means for deilecting the heatingagent from the other of said disks, and means for moving said bracketand the parts carried thereby toward and away from said button,substantially as set forth.

G. In a hat-curling machine, the combinalion of the divided disks havingconcave peripheries which are complementary parts of a semicircle, therevoluble button having a convex periphery in close proximity to saiddisks, the curling-shackle having a Haring downwardly-opening mouth inproximity to said button and disks, means for heating one of said disks,means for deiiecting the heating agent from the other of said disks, andthe shield extending in front of the heated disk adjacent to saidbutton, substantially as set forth.

7. In a hat-curling machine, the combination of a pair of disksjournaled in a movable bracket and having registering concave peripheries, a revoluble button having a convex periphery, means forrotating said button and disks, means for heating one of said disksduring rotation, and means for preventing heating of the other of saiddisks, substantially as described.

S. In a hat-curling machine, the combination of a movable bracket, apair of disks journaled therein and having concaved peripheries, acurling-button revolubly mounted near said disks, means for revolvingsaid disks, means for heating one of said disks, and a fender near saidheating means for preventing heating of the other of said disks,substantially as described.

9. In a hat-curling machine, the combination with a resilient bracketpivoted to swing in a horizontal plane, of a disk journaled therein, abutton revolubly mounted near said disk, means for retaining said buttonagainst longitudinal or lateral movement, means for rotating said disk,and a curlingshackle carried by said bracket, arranged in proximity tosaid button and disk, and means for moving said shackle away from thebutton to free the hat curled, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LEWIS R. HEIM.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM II. CABLE, HENRY M. RoBINsoN.

